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| I have just constructed a Rion Green Giant GH, 8.5 x 8.5. I have an electric heater that I am just now starting to use, controlled by a Ranco thermostat. I have the tstat sensor at about mid-plant level, and the heater (a small electric unit that is the one commonly sold by greenhouse websites, 1100/1300W) is just sitting on a tile on the ground, facing away from the thermostat sensor. I have a large solar panel array on the roof of my house, so electricity use is not an issue for me. But, what I am wondering is what is the best place to locate the heater? Since heat rises, it seems like a ground level location makes sense but photos I have seen of other GH sometimes has the heater mounted up high.
The downside that I see with my current location is that I have to be very careful to not get water on it, but if this is a good place from a performance point of view then I am OK with leaving it as is. What are others doing for this? Here is a photo of the heater and location: |
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| Here's a photo of the Ranco thermostat (NEMA 4X outdoor housing version): |
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- Posted by Cole_Robbie none (My Page) on Sun, Nov 4, 12 at 18:23
| It's fine where it is, as long as you don't get it wet or trip over it. Large greenhouse operations do mount their heaters up high, but that's more about conserving space. Heat will go down just fine, if you direct a fan to blow it downward. A lot of houses have forced air heating vents in the ceiling. You probably want a circulating fan to mix your air, regardless. The fan on the heater moves a little bit of air, but when the thermostat kicks off, that heat goes straight up to the ceiling and through your roof. |
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| Thanks for the idea for the circulating fan, that would be an easy add on. the floor location seems to be working pretty well so far, we have had several nights in the mid-30's and the GH maintained 58-59deg no problem with the heater cycling on and off. It will be interesting to see what the electrical usage for this will be... |
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| Jza If you can find an old analog dial clock, like an alarm clock, you can plug it into the outlet controlled by the Tstat and set the hands to 12. When the Tstat kicks on the clock and the heater will come on but the clock will time how long its on. From there you can follow this and figure out the cost Watts X hours of use divided by 1,000 x cost per kilowatt-hour = cost of operation mike |
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| Great suggestion! I don't have a clock like this but I could probably find one at a thrift store. Thanks for the idea. |
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